The total amount from all sources available for roads, trails, and other improvements on the National Forests during the fiscal year 1918 is therefore $1,926,530.84. THE CLASSIFICATION AND CONSOLIDATION OF NATIONAL FOREST LANDS The classification and consolidation of National Forest lands is a matter of great importance to their proper administration and protection. If all the lands within the Forests are to be put to their highest use for the permanent good of the whole people the lands inside of their boundaries must be classified and permanent boundaries established for each Forest. Through this kind of work the National Forests gain in stability. The classification and segregation of the agricultural lands is most important, for these lands are open to entry under the Forest Homestead Act. _Land Classification._ The land classification work is organized in the Washington and District Offices under the Branch of Lands. Crews of men are sent out from the District Offices and the work of classification, carefully planned ahead, is done by projects, that is, large contiguous areas are examined together. For instance, the Hat Creek Project on the Lassen National Forest consisted of a number of large areas containing scattered parcels of agricultural lands along the Hat Creek valley in that Forest. For the classification of the lands on a big project a surveyor and a lineman, one or more timber cruisers, and an expert from the Bureau of Soils constitute the crew. As a result of this work over 1,100 individual tracts within the Forests were made available for entry under the Forest Homestead Act during the fiscal year 1916, because this land was found to have a greater value for growing agricultural crops than for growing timber. Under this same policy since 1912 about 12,000,000 acres were eliminated from the Forests, partly because they were of greater value for agricultural use, or because they were not suited for the purposes for which the National Forests were created. Up to June 30, 1917, 127,156,610 acres of National Forest land have been examined and classified. Such work as this, once and for all time, will settle the controversy now and then waged in Congress by certain Congressmen that the National Forests have large and valuable tracts of agricultural lands locked up within their boundaries and therefore should be abolished, or turned over to the States, or equally radical disposition made of them. Such Congressmen usually are working for some predatory private interests who want to secure the great wealth in the National Forests that is being wisely conserved for the people.